Don’t Count Your Waves When You’re Sitting in the Lineup

The whole time I was surfing yesterday, this song was running through my head:
You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.

-Chorus from The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers

But, I wasn’t hearing those words.  I was hearing these words (or something thereof):

“You gotta know when to paddle, when to skedaddle

Know when to dig, dig, dig; know when to bail

You never count your waves while you’re sittin’ in the lineup

There’s time enough for countin’ when the surfin’ is done”

Everyone who hears that song says it is absolutely a metaphor for life.  Namely: enjoy, be in the moment, be serendipitous.  Also, be smart: don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

Every surfer story I hear that ends with stitches starts with “The day would have been perfect if I could just get one more wave. . .”

Last night, I got out before I was entirely exhausted–merely mostly exhausted.  I didn’t end on my best wave, but I got out when I was done.

Saturday, during the Beach2Battleship Ironman Triathlon, while doing water support on my (borrowed) standup paddleboard, I pulled a swimmer out who was suffering from hypothermia.  Because they’re disqualified (officially) after getting out of the water early, I didn’t want to make the decision for him to bring him out.  He asked me to and I did.  He knew when to quit.  And that decision saved his life.

Postscript: he didn’t really quit, though.  After he warmed up, he finished the race, and came in 177 out of 700.  The time it took to warm up was roughly the same amount of time it would have taken to finish the swim, plus about 30 minutes.  He started the bike leg in almost dead last.  And then he finished.

Know when to hold ‘em.  Know when to fold em’.

Remnants of Nicole

The 40 days and 40 nights of rain finally ended.  More or less.  In came Fall.  Just like that, a switch was flipped and it is now a different season.  Time to wear a thicker top when surfing.  Time to take a sweatshirt for apres-surf.  Time to put hot chocolate or hot tea in the thermos instead of water.

Time when those of us with extra flab are actually a bit grateful for it.

It Only Took ’till October for a Chicks on Sticks Reunion

After a gajillion days of rain, everyone was ready to get outside on Friday afternoon.  We cut out at about 4:30 and went surfing at the north end of Wrightsville Beach.  Along for the rides were Tracy, Nancy, me, Kristen (our new SUP friend), Kim’s husband and Tracy’s husband.  Kim watched from the beach.  At SOME POINT we’ll get Melody out there.

The evening had a very “the gang’s all here” feeling to it.  Tracy’s husband had recently received 7 staples in his head because of a fin smack, so he was getting back on the proverbial horse.  And, he did it!  Caught some nice rides.  Kristen Is about 5 feet tall and weighs about 80 lbs soaking wet, so she spent most of the evening with blue lips and convulsive shivers.

A Little Help from My Friends

I mostly like to surf with other people.  It is just safer that way.  Someone to fish me out if I’m drowning.  Someone to call 911.  Someone to notice me in the lineup.  Friday, this was especially important, as we had to sit REALLY far out to catch the good ones.  And, because of rips and such, we all kept floating further out and had to paddle back in.  When you’re a few football fields out to sea, it is nice to have others with you.

Remnants of Nicole and the freakish triple-whammy of stalled cold fronts made the waves nice, but enough time had passed that they weren’t all freight trains steaming in.  Most of the waves broke pretty far out, then the powerful ones were whitewater until they re-formed closer to the beach.  That made for some nice, long rides. And long rides mean:  YOU KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN!!!  Standing up!

Crouching Katie, Hidden Whatever

I’m finally getting the hang of this surfing thing.  When I started working with a personal trainer in July, my NUMBER ONE GOAL was to be able to stand up on my surfboard.  Now, lots of lessons and technique training last year from Nancy and Tracy gave me a good foundation.  I was at the point where I could do everything but push myself up on that board.

Then, I started working with Jason at Muscleworx in Carolina Beach.  His diet and exercise regimen (mainly lifting LOTS and LOTS of weights) pushed me over the top and helped me meet my goal.  I could not be more proud, or more grateful to everyone who stuck with me on my journey.  On Friday, I stood up for several, and Nancy and Tracy actually got to SEE the fruits of their hard-fought teaching.  The last wave, I rode in a crouch–two feet down, one hand on the board, and one sticking out to the side for balance.

Then I went in.

Don’t Tempt the Surf Gods

When I played golf, if I was hitting golf balls, I’d always quit after a good shot, even if I had a few left.  I wanted to end on a high note.  I’ve learned this is a good idea, if possible, with surfing.  If you get greedy and try for “Just ONE MORE,” you end up with a busted lip or staples in your head.  Just sayin’.

40 Days and 40 Nights

After standing up on my surfboard about a week ago, I’d love to repeat the feat–this time with Nancy and Tracy in tow.  However, we’ve been having some freakish weather down here in Wilmington this week.  Starting on Monday, September 27th, and continuing even as I write this on Thursday, September 30, it has rained nonstop.  We had about 1 teaspoon of rain during the rest of September.  We’ve had 22 inches since Monday.

Here’s what the low pressure system is doing to the waves:

Monday, we were supposed to surf.  Wednesday we were supposed to surf.  Both days, I woke up to pounding rain, thunder and lightening.  Text messages were exchanged.  We all went back to bed–until our weather radios went off.  Again.

Tomorrow, we’re going to try again, but I’m not sure I feel prepared for head-high.  We’ll see.  I might watch.  I do suspect, though, that Nancy and Tracy are going to make me at LEAST get in the whitewater so that I can show them I wasn’t making things up when I updated my facebook status to say “I stood up!”  (For the record, I have a witness: my husband.)

I’ll report back tomorrow.

Surfing my Brains Out

Nancy says that, no matter how old I am, how long I have surfed, or how good I am or not, I will always get at least one and probably multiple calls from my parents whenever there is the hint of a tropical bump hovering off the coast of Africa that might possibly, MAYBE impact the currents off my home surf break.  They might be nonchalant about the conversation, and casually slip in something like “oh, you’re not planning on going surfing this weekend, are you?”  Or, they might just come right out and say it, even though they don’t really know what they’re saying.  “So, will the storm affect the tides and stuff?”  Or, they might be out and out hysterical:  “I JUST SAW ON TV WHERE SOMEONE IN MARYLAND IS MISSING BECAUSE OF A RIP CURRENT.  STAY OUT OF THE WATER.”

I feel better that even my surf teacher gets those calls.  And, I’m thrilled that my parents care enough about me to worry.  And hurricane swell is what surfers from Wrightsville Beach live for.  We don’t have regular reef breaks that produce reliable rights or lefts that you can ride for 90 seconds with a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

We have mostly wind swell, and sometimes groundswell.  In the same surf session, we’ll have waves that feel like a freight train hitting us and waves that feel like someone’s blowing bubbles at us.  We don’t know until we catch them, or they hit us when we’re paddling back out.

Speaking of paddling back out.

So, tonight, Nancy caught a nice wave and was starting to paddle back out.  I looked over my shoulder and saw a wave coming.  It looked good, as in, I thought I could catch it, and it wouldn’t die before it got to me.  So, I went.  I paddled for it and caught it, right in front of Nancy.

Shortly before catching it, I had been saying to her “See, I can catch these waves, but then I immediately pearl. (Dive face-first down the steep face of the wave)  What should I do?”  She said “oh, maybe scoot back a little on your board.”

Then she had a front row seat to see what I was talking about.  Once I re-surfaced, grabbed the leash up by the tail of the board, and checked my thigh to make sure I wasn’t bleeding where my big fin smacked me, I heard Nancy yell “WHAT WERE YOU DOING?  I WASN’T EVEN ON THAT WAVE AND I WAS SCARED.  HOLY CRAP!!!!!  IS THAT WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT?  THAT WAS THE PROBLEM YOU WERE ASKING ME ABOUT?  I have no IDEA what to do about that.”  She continued “I hate to say I don’t know what to do, but good GRIEF.  Maybe try to get out in front of it?  Paddle harder.”

Let me tell you what: after a year of surfing, I’ve learned that the answer to almost any question is “Paddle Harder.”

In the parking lot, I had been telling Nancy that she was the only one who would go surfing regularly with me.  After this performance, she said “Well, if you’re trying to get them to take off on THOSE waves, no WONDER they won’t go with you.”  Lesson learned. I also decided that if there’s hurricane swell when my parents visit next weekend, I’d better stick to the inside, because if my DAD watches me do what I did in front of Nancy, I’ll be lucky to not look out the front window and watch him breaking my board himself before a wave has a chance to do it for me.

We’re probably going to have to have back to back to back tropical systems out in the ocean this week, so I predict a lot of surfing.  While we were packing up tonight, Nancy said “Same place, tomorrow morning, 6:30 am?”

So my question is this:  is it a two-fer if you surf twice within 24 hours, even if *technically* it is on different days?  When we were surfing tonight, it was already Monday morning in Australia.

Reef/Sweetwater Pro/Am Wahine Re-Cap

In the middle of July, I worked the Reef/Sweetwater Pro/Am on Wrightsville Beach.  It was tons of fun.  Possibly the most fun you can have while working.  A local surfer won, which was also fun.  And, apparently, he’s an all-around-nice-guy.  Which, of course, is more endearing to me than the most gnarly airs.  But, this isn’t about the guys at the contest, it’s about the girls.  There were two events for the ladies:   Girls Open Longboard and Girls Open Shortboard.

Now, while the guys were more than happy to flex their muscles and pose for photos, the girls, not as much!    But, I managed to snap a few shots.  Here’s the Wahine Scene at the Reef/Sweetwater Pro/Am 2010.

The girl on the right was surfing in her first contest!

A local wahine!

Another local-Jo–she’s been surfing for a long time, and competed in both shortboard and longboard events.

Girls longboard finals

The Longboard winners (above)

The Shortboard winners (below)

And, more of why surfing’s so fun:

Big thanks to Tony and Jenn Butler for calling me to work!  And thanks to Abby (the usual helper for Jenn) for having an art show that weekend and being otherwise occupied.  Big thanks to Reef for my new flip-flops!  (They really ARE ridiculously comfortable.) And thanks to Sweetwater, for putting on this event and organizing it!

Where I rant about male surf writers

I’m going to write a review of a new book I just read.  I liked the book.  My review on Amazon makes it sound like I didn’t like the book, though I made sure to reiterate several times that I did, in fact, like the book.  Some of what I *didn’t* like about the book are “man things,” I think.

This is where I will alienate all four of my man readers.  Sorry guys.  But, really, ask yourself, how often do you actually stop and ask for directions?  Never?  Yeah? Well, that’s why the gals always bring that up as “man behavior.”  Because it is.  Directions? To a new and complicated piece of power equipment?  WHO NEEDS TO READ DIRECTIONS?  NOT ME,  I’LL JUST CUT OFF MY FINGER.

Ok, maybe you’re not that extreme, but I SWEAR TO GOD, I have more than one example of that, in action.  One example involved an 8 month old baby, a day at the beach, and a brand-new tent.  Ahem.

Someone needs to write a Women’s Surf Memoir

Maybe someday, I’ll have time for that and somebody might be interested.  In the last year, since I’ve become fanatically obsessed with surfing  (well, I’ve always kind of been obsessed, but I finally acted on my obsession), I’ve read about 8 surf memoirs: Saltwater Buddah, Surf is Where You Find It, Kook, and so on.  (I forget-I need to start a “surf books shelf” like my “garden books shelf.”)  They were all written by men. And they all re-hash the following old-as-time and annoying-as-crap male tendencies:

• Don’t ask for directions. Don’t try to learn. Just do.  And possibly break your neck while doing this.
• Completely ignore social conventions and then wonder why you almost got socked in the jaw.
• Have a midlife crises.
• Go on a long road trip during said crises.
• Completely ignore everything and everyone around you.
• Talk about the mysticalness of the ocean.
• Claim that anything other than stoicism in the lineup is “kookish” or “wimpy” behavior.
• Repeat, endlessly, that when you can’t stand up, or you fall off your board before getting a good ride, that the time was wasted.
• Comment on hot chicks in bikinis.

How Women Surfers are different than Man Surfers

This is not a scientific research study.  In fact, this list is gleaned from my time in the water over the last year with Nancy and Tracy, and their other students, and their surfing gal-pals.

• Women will hoot and holler for each other when we catch a wave and not feel self-conscious about it.
• Women do not ask each other what size baggies we wear.  Nor do we talk about what size swimsuit we wear. (Thank GOD because I’m still kind of fat.)
• Women are not afraid to scream if we purl, or get chomped on the foot by something, or see a shark.
• Women will keep track of each other in the lineup–in a friendly, making sure we don’t drown way.
• Women will call each other to go out surfing. Plan a time to meet.  Chat, eat breakfast together, and generally be social.
• Women will encourage each other to catch waves, and will work around each other if we both happen to catch the same wave.
• Women do not usually have a reason to punch each other square in the jaw over a wave.

Now, maybe these observations are because I rarely surf in a lineup of 50 surfers.  And, I’ve run into some pretty nice surfer guys in my first year of surfing.  Gents who did not laugh when I fell right off my board trying to sit up on it in the lineup.  Gents who helped me learn how to catch waves.  Mostly, these gents were older than me.  Somewhere between 20-30 years older.  They have had years of experience.  They don’t just abstractly KNOW, but they really UNDERSTAND, that there’s ALWAYS another wave.  Plenty to go around.

So this book I just read, well, the author might have been in his 40′s, but maturity-wise, he was about 25.  More on that later.

I’m grouchy tonight. I know it.  Just, DANG IT: there are some ladies that really know how to shred it, and they’re nice, to boot.  I wish they got more ATTENTION.

Wave Watching and The Buddy System

This morning, Nancy and I went out surfing just to the south of Johnny Mercer’s Pier in Wrightsville Beach.  Thank GOODNESS it wasn’t as drifty as Tuesday, or we would have been UNDER the pier .05 seconds after getting in the water.  And, well, that’s no fun.

We still managed to drift just north of the “DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING CLOSE TO THE PIER ON YOUR SURFBOARD” sign–enough north to warrant the big WHOOP  WHOOP siren indicating we needed to paddle south or else.

Other than that, we had our little, um, 4ft wave, to ourselves.  Now people in California.  I know what you’re thinking: a 4 foot wave is little.  Not so much.  Not here in southern coastal North Carolina, where we all consider ourselves VERY LUCKY to have ANY waves during the summer. Where was I?

Oh yes.  The Buddy System.

The Buddy System

Right after I nose-dived down my biggest wave of the day  (OH COOL, I CAUGHT IT.  OH WAIT, NOW I’M ON THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN.), Nancy looked over at me and squealed.  “I just freaked myself out.”  “How?” “Something bumped against my ankle.  It was my leash, but. . .” “SHARK?”  (We’ve had some shark bites around here recently.) She laughed.  Yes, that’s what she briefly thought.

Yesterday, I was talking to my Mom and mentioned the bite on Sunday up by Shell Island that required 40 stitches.  She got a little nervous.  “Here’s the thing,” I said.  “I try to go with a buddy whenever possible.  That way, it is unlikely that I’ll bleed out before the paramedics can get to me.  My buddy can call 911.”  She said “I don’t think I’m getting in the water this fall.”  DANG.  I wanted her to get on a board with Nancy or Tracy.  Maybe I can get my Dad to.

Wave Watching

The other thing that came up today:  my increased ability to spot the right waves to paddle for.  I’d like to think that watching the Reef/Sweetwater Pro/Am for three ENTIRE DAYS IN A ROW helped with that.  One of my surfer-dude friends said “I’d rather catch ‘em than watch ‘em.”  Well, he’s already good!  I learned a lot from just watching the waves roll in, watching the contestants catch them, and listening to the commentators call out approaching sets.

I also went swimming a LOT this summer before I finally got out on my surfboard.  I’d like to think I won’t wait so long next spring, but my swimming did help.  I swam out around the wave break and felt the different waves come in.  Which ones looked powerful, but weren’t.  Noticed when they re-formed on the inside.  I even body-surfed a little bit.  I think you can feel certain aspects of the waves when you’re actually IN THEM, as opposed to ON THEM.  Just my two cents.

When we got out of the water, Nancy said that I seemed much better at knowing when to paddle and when to stay put.

Surf Book Reviews Ahead

I’m reading Sweetness and Blood right now, a new book about the spread of surfing around the word in the 1950s.  The spread from California as more of a pop cultural phenomenon, than anything.  It’s pretty interesting.

Soon, I’ll be reviewing Kook, which was thoughtfully sent to us by the publisher of the book, Free Press.

See you in the water!

On My Knees

Wow.

My brain is still fried and I’m just NOW getting re-hydrated after working the Reef/Sweetwater Pro/Am all weekend long at Wrightsville Beach.  Thanks to the lovely and talented Jennifer Butler for bringing me on for the weekend!

I haven’t been surfing since NOVEMBER 2009.  I know. I know.  How can someone with so much stoke NOT go surfing?  I dunno?  Time. Fatness. Nerves.  Whatever–watching everyone run around in bikinis and seeing the wahines shred it along with the groms last weekend made me want to get back out.

Oh, that, and the fact that my darling husband got me a Buddy Pelletier Surfing Foundation license plate for my birthday, and I feel like kind of a fraud not surfing, while driving around with it on my car.

Anyhoo: I finally went surfing today.  First time in 2010.  Despite the fact that there was a 20 mph wind blowing from south to north, meaning that 30 seconds after I started paddling on my surfboard, I was about six football fields down the beach.

I’ve been working with a personal trainer this summer to 1) lose my fatness and 2) become strong enough to stand up on my surfboard.  It appears that all of my hard work is working because. . . drumroll please. . .

I GOT TO MY KNEES TODAY

In all of 2009, I couldn’t make it past a cobra.  I wasn’t strong enough to hoist myself up.  Well, today, TWICE, for approximately 0.5 seconds, I actually made it to my knees.  On the second try, I actually got my front foot up, too.  WAHOO!

I think 2010 is going to be a good surfing year for me.

When a Werewolf Just Needs to Get Away…

. . . she goes surfing.

She? What do you mean, she?

Didn’t you know that all werewolves are female?  That makes them perfect clients for Chicks on Sticks.

Learn While You’re Young

We teach wahines (surfer girls) of all ages to surf.  But, there’s no question that the younger you are, the easier it is to learn.  That’s why we’re recommending that all young ladies start surfing by their 16th birthday, at least.  Actually, surfing lessons would make a FANTASTIC birthday present.  And, at just $25 an hour, plus board rental, they’re a LOT less expensive than a car.

Why 16 is the Magic Number

Werewolves don’t learn they’re werewolves until they turn 16.  This can be a traumatic experience for them.  There are few places that are safe for these young weres to get away from it all.  That’s why the ocean is so soothing.  Nobody, and we do mean nobody, cares what you look like while you surf.  So, if you haven’t quite mastered the trick of being “all the way human” or “all the way werewolf,” nobody’s going to look at you twice if you have a few stray hairs sticking out here or there on the tops of your ears, or palms. And, if you fully morph into a werewolf while surfing, well, haven’t you seen the surfing dogs?  Werewolves can surf, too!

Who’s Afraid of Sharks?

Not werewolves!  Werewolves are big enough and strong enough to eat sharks for LUNCH.  Also, with their heightened sense of smell, werewolves can smell sharks a mile away.  ’nuff said.

(However, we do recommend that if a young werewolf wahine has recently consumed a, um, meal, that she take a thorough shower before coming out for surf lessons.  Best not to attract the sharks with any stray blood.)

Building Confidence by Surfing

Learning you’re a werewolf can be a traumatic event, according to Christine Johnson, author of Claire de Lune, a book about a young girl learning she’s a werewolf–and everything that goes along with it.  Because werewolves learn their true identities during their formative teen years, when there are already a number of other worries, dealing with a new set of concerns can shake any girl’s confidence.

Surfing is a wonderful way to build confidence.  While surfing, girls strengthen their core muscles, improve their balance, lengthen their spines, and build their arm muscles.  Surfing makes being a werewolf easier.

To sign your little werewolf up for surfing lessons, contact the Chicks on Sticks!

And to Win a Signed Copy of Claire de Lune

and take the rest of the big Werewolf Blog Tour, head on over to http://thegardenofwords.wordpress.com! We’re celebrating the publication, TODAY, of Christine Johnson’s new book, Claire de Lune. It is about, you guessed it, teenage female werewolves.

Head High

An equally appropriate title for this blog would be “Ass over Teakettle,” but for SEO purposes and to maintain guilty pleasure reading at work for all three of my fans (shout out to Natalie, Tami and Daniel!!), I kept the profane out of the top.  Let’s just say that if you AND your surfing teacher are screaming like girls, you know it is big out there.

This photo describes conditions more accurately than five hundred words of my own could. This is one of the daily photos posted on WB Live Surf, taken right around the time I was out today. The website is one of the places I check conditions before lugging all of my stuff to the beach.

Photo of the day from WB Live Surf

Notice how the wave behind the surfer standing up is roughly as high as his head. That’s what we mean by “head high.” Or, if you are a beginner, “Really effing big.”

Wherein We Test the Strength of my Surfing Sunglasses

Monday afternoon, I went out by myself (there were other people out and on the beach, but I wasn’t with “friends”) and the outside break was big enough that I gave up after one wave and stayed on the whitewater inside.  On Monday, the waves were probably two feet shorter than today.  I was also wearing my new shorty wetsuit, or “spring suit,” for the first time.  That’s a wetsuit with short pants and short sleeves.  It kept me nice and toasty.

The other instructive part of the photo above is the surfer on the board, to the right of the surfer riding the wave.  Now, imagine you are at the bottom of that wave, instead of the middle.  What does that wave look like? Yes, it looks like A WALL OF WATER.  That you have to GET THROUGH.  On a LONGBOARD. Upon which you CANNOT DUCK DIVE, so you have to go over the waves, turtle roll, or something. In a wetsuit. With a nine foot surfboard. That has fins. And a mind of its own. And can boomerang on the leash back to knock you unconscious if it wants to.  (I’m being a little dramatic, but it was a bit chaotic out there.)

After reading numerous testimonials about the strength and amazing ability of the Silverfish sunglasses to stay on in virtually any surfing conditions, I felt confident that with the wimpy little waves I am generally on, these glasses would be just fine.  That meant that today was an EXCELLENT day to see just what these super composite, ultra-mega-mega strong frames would do.

I began my trek out past the big outside break.  I paddled.  I swam. I floated. I towed my board with my ankle. I towed it by holding on to the leash where it attaches to the board.  I paddled some more.  I got SMACKED in the face with 6 ft tall waves.  I flew off my board BACKWARDS, with it sailing over me, ready to bonk me in the head.  The glasses stayed ON.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have Arrived!

Have you ever rented a car from Hertz and made use of their “Neverlost” system?  When you get somewhere, the lady in the box says “You have arrived,” with a strangely flat inflection.  Like, she’s saying “you’re here, but now you have to deal with whatever crap awaits you wherever “here” is.”  That is kind of how I felt when I got past the break.  Nancy was yelling “GREAT JOB, KATIE! IT IS REALLY BIG! YOU MADE IT!  MOST PEOPLE WOULD HAVE QUIT!”  I was watching the waves roll in and crash, not unlike the Niagara River as it hurtles over the Horseshoe Falls.  In other words, I had arrived, and, at some point, I was going to have to figure out a way to get back IN.  I rested and watched Nancy catch a few.

Optimum Positioning for Eyeglass Testing

We floated a while, feet dangling in the water.  Thank goodness it was so big that I did not think AT ALL about my likely shark sighting on Tuesday or the bluefish with teeth swimming, in all likelihood, around us.  We determined we were too far out to catch, and paddled in a bit.  While we were re-positioning, a huge HUGE wave started to break RIGHT ON TOP OF US.

“aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIKKKKKKKK!!!!!!   I GUESS WE’RE GO— rooooaaaaaaaRRRRRRRRRR”  <—That was us, as we realized we were going, like it or not. And, then, the sound of the wave breaking, or a freight train running over us.

For three seconds after the wave broke, I thought “I’m ON. I’m GOING!  WHEEEEEEE!”  Then, as frequently happens when I’m on something this big, the nose of the board tipped down and I was flying through the air, (this is where “ass over teakettle” comes in) and plunging under.  Apparently, I had it easy, as Nancy actually hit the bottom of the ocean, at which point she said she thought to herself “Well, if that is the bottom, I guess this way is up.”

My glasses stayed on through all of this.  So, I recommend that if you need prescription surfing sunglasses, head DIRECTLY over to Silverfish and get some.  They are ENTIRELY worth it.  (For reference, I have the s-rat model, black frames, prescription lenses with polarization.  And, the express lab.)

Katie’s Biggest Day Yet STARTS NOW

That’s what Nancy said as we got in.  I was not having an “official lesson.”  We were out surfing as buddies.  Thank goodness we were out together.  It was way to big for me to try it on the outside on my own.  It is nice to have someone to check and see whether you’ve made it back to the surface after a big pounding, and to encourage you to keep going.  Days like today, I’m glad I have lots of surfer girlfriends. We don’t make fun of each other if we scream.